Black Women, Fibroids & Parabens

Let’s chat about fibroids. 

Because, unfortunately, they are going to be a part of many of our stories as Black women.

First - what is a fibroid? It’s (generally) a noncancerous tumor that lives in the muscle tissue of your uterus. 

Some of the ways they show up and cause us difficulty is:

• Pelvis pain

• Blood clots that happen during your period

• Painful sex

• Hindering your physical activity due to pain

• Anemia

• Protruding/bloating belly area

Painful periods are not something that you should just deal with. Dealing with the pain of fibroids should not be okay and it isn’t something you need to endure. This is your sisterly reminder to go get checked if any of those things above are something you encounter. 

Now, what is it with fibroids and Black women? 

Did you know that Black women are 2-3x more likely to suffer from fibroids? 

They start to show up at younger ages (when compared to our counterparts) and they are often more severe. 

By the age of 25, 25% of Black women will have fibroids. By age 50, 80% of Black women will have fibroids. 

Black women with fibroids are also 2-3x more likely to turn to surgery because of them - talking hysterectomy and myomectomy. 

The more pressing question is why? 

A few reasons that have been tied to black women and fibroids are:

• Stress levels

• Vitamin D deficiency

• Parabens

I, personally, want us to take a harder look at parabens. 

The more we learn about parabens, the more the problem causing comes to the surface. Parabens are known to mimic estrogen. In addition, parabens are found concentrated in estrogen sensitive tumors. 

What happens when estrogen is mimicked is estrogen receptors begging to interact with our cells. It makes your body think that your estrogen levels are higher than they really are. This creates a reaction that results in your cells dividing and encourages tumor growth. 

80% of the products tested from the Silent Springs Institute were found to contain endocrine disruptors - which is the category parabens fall into.

With Black women using more products than white women, it’s not far fetched that we are over-accumulating parabens from our makeup, moisturizers, hair products and shaving cream.

Let’s start checking the ingredients of our products, reducing our stress and choosing safer!